Laboratory and Field Investigation of the Feasibility of Crumb Rubber Waste Application to Improve the Flexibility of Anti-Rutting Performance of Asphalt Pavement.

Hongyin Li,Hailong Jiang,Jizhe Zhang,Zhanyong Yao,Peng Liu,Fei Wang,Shanshan Wang,Wenwu Zhang

doi:10.3390/ma11091738

Hongyin Li, Hailong Jiang + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11091738

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Abstract

Resistance of asphalt mix to low-temperature cracking and rutting at high temperature is very important to ensure the service performance of asphalt pavement under seasonal changes in temperature and loading. However, it is challenging to balance the improvement of such resistance by using additives, e.g., anti-rutting agent (ARA). This study focuses on improving the flexibility of anti-rutting asphalt mix by incorporating crumb rubber (CR) and ARA. The properties of the prepared modified asphalt mix were evaluated in the laboratory by performing wheel tracking, three-point bending, indirect tensile, and uniaxial compression tests. The experimental results showed that the dynamic stability of modified asphalt mix was significantly increased due to the addition of ARA and further improved by incorporating CR. The maximum bending strain at −10 °C was increased due to the contribution of CR. The results of indirect tensile strength and resilient modulus further indicated that the CR-modified anti-rutting mixture was more flexible. Moreover, the field observation and evaluation indicated that the CR-modified anti-rutting asphalt pavement met the standard requirements, better than normal asphalt mixture in many parameters. A conclusion can be made that incorporating CR in asphalt mixture prepared with ARA can improve pavement performance at both high and low in-service temperatures.

Highlights

Owing to economic growth and the high demand of transport, especially in developing countries, traffic volume is experiencing a dramatic increase and the number of overloaded vehicles is increasing as well
The indirect tensile strength of asphalt mix before and after the freeze-thaw cycle was measured and the retained tensile strength ratios were calculated, with the results presented in Figure 9.11Inofdry conditions, the asphalt mixture prepared with the base bitumen showed the lowest Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS) of 0.524 MPa
As presented in this table, the Marshall stability value of crumb rubber (CR)-modified anti-rutting mixture was over 30% higher compared with the base asphalt mixture

Summary

Introduction

Owing to economic growth and the high demand of transport, especially in developing countries, traffic volume is experiencing a dramatic increase and the number of overloaded vehicles is increasing as well. The mass of an overloaded lorry in China can be >150 tons, with contact pressure >1 MPa. Rutting, which is defined as permanent deformation along the wheel path caused by traffic loading, is one of the principal distress modes in Chinese asphalt pavement [3]. The hot-mixed asphalt mixture is commonly obtained at high temperatures by mixing predetermined rations of aggregates (coarse and fine), bitumen, and filler, which, after paving and compaction processes, form a flexible pavement [5,6]. As it is a composite material, its Materials 2018, 11, 1738; doi:10.3390/ma11091738 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials

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